The Beginning
by Divine2
Summary: Harry survives yet another summer with the Dursley's, has more adventures at school, and fights evil once again. Read and review! :o)
1. Summer with the Dursley's/Weasley's

  
  
It was roasting, but soon to be cool, at number four Private Drive. Uncle Vernon had let Dudley run the air conditioner so much that one day it started shaking, smoking, had made a loud pop and quit on them. A new one had just been installed, and Harry was lying down on the hardwood floor next to the vent savoring every breeze of cold air that hit his face. He had been away from Hogwarts for at least two and a half weeks now-not that he was very happy about that. The minute Harry had stepped into the car for the ride home from the train station Uncle Vernon started in on him about the incident that occured the last time they had been in the same room together. Harry sat back in the chair, not really listening. He imagined every one of the words his uncle was saying floating in the air and going in one of his ears and out the other as he watched trees and houses go by.He had been through too much this past year to care what Uncle Vernon said or did to him.  
  
" Are you listening boy?!", his Uncle had said.  
  
" Yes." And so he had continued carrying on about how awfu the Weasley family was. But Harry didn't care. And he was sure the Weasley family wouldn't care what a big fat Muggle had to say about them anyway.   
  
"What are those people teaching you? To blow peoples tongues up!" Uncle Vernon had continued. But even though he said these things about the wizardring world, Harry knew that Uncle Vernon, Aunt Petunia, and Dudley were all terrified beyond belief of Harry and the people he often spoke of. For instance, when his Aunt had told him to vacuum and dust the entire house the first day of summer vacation, Harry had politely said he was tired from the trip and he would be much obliged if they would allow him to sleep for the remainder of the evening. Aunt Petunia looked astonished at having been asked such a quesion from Harry, Uncle Vernon looked like a big purple eggplant, and Dudley looked anxious to hear Harry's punishment. But Harry was going to rest, and he wasn't going to be punished.  
  
" If you don't let me rest, I CAN send a letter to the Weasley family and tell them that I've been home for less than five minutes and already I am being put to work like a house elf. Sirius might like to he-" said Harry, but was cut off.  
  
" Allright!Allright! Go sleep, but be prepared to do double work tomorrow." said his uncle, looking like he was ready to burst his eggplant-like gutts everywhere.  
  
" No, I dont think you heard me right- I will not be put to work this summer." said Harry.  
  
" OH YES YOU WILL! IF I SAY YOU WILL-YOU WILL!!"   
  
" No I won't." Harry said calmly.  
  
His Uncle threw up his hands and left the room.  
  
Aunt Petunia rounded on Harry. " Your Uncle will not be spoken to like that!", she yelled in Harry's face. Harry got up closer to hers.  
  
" You know that guy that killed your sister?Well, that guy is back. I fought him this year. I a friend of watched mine die right in front of me because this guy-Voldemort-did an unforgivable curse on him." ,his sparkling green eyes met her cold blue ones." I think I can handle a bunch of snot-nosed muggles." said Harry in a deadly low voice. Aunt Petunia had a frightened look in her eyes for a moment and then stuck her nose in the air, smacked Harry across the face for talking to her in such a manner, and left the room. Oh, but Harry knew that was all the trouble he was going to get from the Dursley's this summer. He was almost fifteen, and old enough to stand up for himself. He had then taken his things upstairs to his room, and settled in for the summer.  
  
He raised himself up from the floor. His room was cooling quickly.As he stretched he looked around. He had written Ron, and his parents had agreed to send food every three days for him.Harry never left his room except to go to the bathroom. He had all of his school books in his room, food and rink, Hedwig, and the Daily Prophet sent to him every week. He was actually quite comfortable, except it got lonely and boring.   
He sat on bed next to Hedwig who was perched on the footboard. He stroked her head and she ruffled her wings before flying over to the vent and squinting her eyes against the air blowing in her face. Harry grinned at the sight of her. He slid under the blanket-the new air conditioner worked, it was beggining to get cold- and he fell asleep.  
  
  
~***~  
  
  
  
  
Five days later, Harry was flopped out on his bed reading the Daily Prophet. The front page read:  
  
MINISTER OF MAGIC REFUSES TO BELIEVE THE INEVITABLE  
  
Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge, refuses to believe that He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned despite the frequent occurance of missing ministry employees, and continuous dark mark sightings. Many a witch and wizard are beggining to think that the minister himself is mad. Though that may not be the case, the fact remains that we need to take precaution. If He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named has returned, we must do everything we can to destroy him. How are we supposed to do that witha minister who won't even believe the boy who lived? That's right folks, Minister Fudge himself does not believe that the young Harry Potter was there the night the Dark Lord returned.Even with everything that has been happening in our world he still does not believe a word the Potter boy said. Is that the kind of Minister we want? One that even with the possibility that the one who destroyed many of our lives is returning right when we are finally putting the pieces back together? Ladies and Gentleman, the reason for this article is to ask you this: Do we need a new Minister of Magic?   
  
Harry grinned despite himself. He was still angry at the fact that Minister Fudge didn't believe anything Harry had said the night of the Triwizard Tournament. He had always thought Fudge to be a fair man, but he had proved him wrong. But, then again, Harry thought, fear can make people do strange things.He continued to flip through the pages of the paper, glad to be somewhat connected with his world. He stopped dead when he saw the picture of a huge black dog.   
  
DOG SAVES LIFE OF HOGSMEADE CITIZEN  
  
Last night, at 2:17, Miss Elise Franguntle, an insomniac, was taking a walk through the seemingly harmless forrest near her home when she was attacked by a gang of drunk Gypsy Flies. A heroic dog heard her cries for help, and running at full speed and barking with force that could be heard a mile away, fought off the flies.The shaggy black dog is being pampered at home with his owner Remus Lupin.  
  
  
Harry was happy to find that they hadn't kept Sirius in a dog shelter of any kind. He was also glad Lupin had found him. He put down the paper as a small gray owl flew through the window and landed in a heap on the bed. Harry untied the letter from Pig, and set him in Hedwigs cage for a drink. Hedwig, who was stting by the vent, which she had taken a liking to, hooted in disapproval as she always does He opened up the letter.  
  
  
  
Hey! How have you been? Have the Dursleys been working you to death? Don't you wish you could use magic on them? I myself would turn them into pet flubberworms. You will never believe what Fred and George did. They bought me a new pair of dress robes! Dark midnight blue ones. They are sooooo much better than the maroon ones. I have no idea where they got the money. Mum says it's because they were selling their gag gifts to people at Hogwarts. She was furious about that. Have you heard from Hermione any? I have a few times. Hey,and I would've sent food with this letter, but since we sent you some yesterday I didn't think you'd need it. Mum talked to Dumbledore. He said that we could come and get you anytime we wanted, so we will be there tomorrow. We are hoping that Hermione will be able to visit sometime too. Oh! And have you read the paper? Sirius saved a womans life! Oh, and they are wanting to get a new minister. That stupid git Fudge isn't worth two knuts. Well, I'll see ya tomorrow!  
  
Harry leaned back in his desk chair. Just a few more hours and he'd be off to the Weasleys. He couldn't wait.  
  
  
  
  
~***~  
  
  
Screeeeeeeccchhhhhh. Harry looked up from his homework as he heard a car come to a halt in front of his house. He bolted downstairs. The Dursleys looked alarmed to see him-like they'd forgotten he was there, which wasn't unlikely. Harry opened the door. Uncle Vernon, who was, along with his aunt and cousin, looking out the window, grabbed hold of his wrist. Harry looked at him with innocent eyes.  
  
" Don't you dare go out there!", His uncle growled.   
  
" I may not go out there, but they are coming in." said Harry. And sure enough as he said it, Mr.Weasley walked in the door dressed from head to toe in wizards clothes. He moved out of the way so Ron,Fred,and George could come in behind him.   
  
" Why, hello Mr.Dursley!", said Mr.Weasley. The Dursleys shrank back in fear. The warm smile faded from Mr.Weasleys face, but then returned as he told the boys to help Harry get his things. As they went up the stairs Harry heard Mr.Weasley saying:  
  
" Haven't quite mastered the art of using a muggle automobile. I am afraid I put some skid marks on the road outside your drive. But I am sure I can fix that." he said. The Dursleys stared.   
  
  
" Wow Harry. Didn't bother to clean up did you?" said Ron as they entered his room.   
  
" Well, since this is where I spend most of my time at, I thought I might as well make it feel as comfortable as possible." said Harry. He and Fred got his trunk and took it downstairs and all four of them worked at getting the room a little bit cleaner than it was before they came in. When they all gathered downstairs Mr.Weasley was rocking back and forth on his feet.   
  
" Everyone ready?" he asked, obviously wanting to leave A.S.A.P.   
  
" Yeah." said Ron.  
  
"Goodbye then!" Mr.Weasley said cheerfully, and in return getting no response from the Dursleys. He then walked quickly to the car, follwed by the others. Harry breathed a sigh of releif when he sat down.   
  
" I'm free!" he said. Mr.Weasley chuckled.  
  
" I would be the same way. I just don't understand why they are so frightened of us." he said.  
  
" Cause we can do things like make objects float in the air, and that just isn't considered natural in their world." said Harry.  
  
" What isn't natural to me is having such a picture perfect house." said Ron. He shuddered. " Now that's scary."  
  
On the way to the Burrow Harry found out that Mrs.Weasley had given up on trying to stop the twins from developing Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes.  
  
"She realized we wanted to do it too much." said George.  
  
" And that it was something we strongly believed in." said Fred.  
  
"Setting peoples butts on fire, what a belief." said Ron.  
  
" What?" asked a laughing Harry.  
  
" Something new we came up with." said Fred.   
  
"We call them Fire-up-yours." said George. Mr.Weasley covered his face with his hands so as to not to let them see him laughing.   
  
When they pulled up to the Burrow, Harry had never felt more at home. He followed Ron past the chicken in the front yard and in through the front door. Harry stopped him and asked him in a quiet tone:  
  
" Where did your dad get a car?"  
  
" Mum doesn't know but he's been working on another one since we smashed the last one." said Ron.  
  
" Harry!" said Mrs.Weasley, walking up to him and giving him a hug. "How are you?"  
  
"He's fine Mum." said Ron, starting to drag Harry up the stairs. Harry gave Mrs.Weasley and apologetic look and followed him. They were halfway up the twisting and turning stairs when Ginny came out of her room.  
  
"Oh, hi Harry." she said, with a smile, then continued on her descendant of the stairs. Harry was slightly surprised.  
  
" What was that about?" he asked.  
  
" I have no idea." said Ron with the same confused expression. "We'll find out later though." he said, continuing climbing.  
  
Harry realized why Ron had been so anxious to get upstairs. His room had been totally redone. It looked good, Harry thought.   
  
" Dad extended it for me. He knocked out the wall between my room and the one next door." said Ron. It had also been painted a dark green color, and there were no more cracks in the walls. The room was no longer covered in orange, but dark blues and greens. He still had all of his Chudley Cannons stuff all over the place, though. Harry jumped as an explosion and 'whoops' of excitement eurupted from the backyard.  
  
" Lets go see who Fred and George have set on fire." said Ron. And they flew down the stairs.  
  
  
~***~  
  
  
  
  
It was now three weeks until school started. Hermione had arrived to spend those weeks with the Weasleys. She was looking taller, and she was wearing make-up, but her hair was as bushy as ever. She had been there since Harry's birthday, when the Weasleys had thrown him a small party, of which he was grateful for.   
  
" Ron, I have not seen Viktor this summer at all, allright?" Hermione said to Ron at breakfast one morning.  
  
" A'ight, fin, I'm 'appy 'ow. " he said sarcastically through a mouthfull of pancakes.  
  
"You'd better be." she said, grinning. Ron grinned widely with his cheeks bulging with food, squinted his eyes,and nodded. Hermione giggled. Charlie suddenly apparated behind Ginny without her noticing. He motioned for everyone to be quiet. She screamed as he lifted her up in the air and over his shoulder, going in circles while singing in a squeaky voice:  
  
"Fuzzy wuzzy was a bear, fuzzy wuzzy had no hair, fuzzy wuzzy wasn't fuzzy was he?"   
  
  
" Charlie put me down!!!" said the now fourteen year old Ginny. She punched him playfully as he set her on the floor. She smoothed her hair down and sat back in her chair.  
  
" Hey Harry." said Charlie.   
  
" Hullo."  
  
"Where would mum and dad be at the moment?' he asked.   
  
" Dads at work-you remeber, he has that job at the ministry and he works during the day- and Mum is in the garden. We're about to help her de-gnome it." said Ron.   
  
" Thanks." said Charlie, heading for the garden.   
  
" Well, I'm done eating. Lets go catch some gnomes." said Ron. Harry and the rest followed.  
  
Hermione had obviously never done the de-gnoming thing before. When Ron finally helped her get the hang of it they found she had a pretty good arm though. Ginny threw the gnomes with experience. Harry couldn't quit laughing when she got into a screaming match witha particularly smart-elick one. When Ginny finally raised her foot to squash it, it went running in the other direction. She looked proud.  
  
"Nice work." said Harry.  
  
"Why thank you." she said, raising her chin and grinning.   
  
Hermione lifted up a gnome and was swinging it around when Percy startled her by aparating behind her. The gnome flew out of her hands and hit him on the side of the head. Ron doubled over with laughter while Hermione gasped and threw her hand over her mouth. Percy stood still. He then fixed his glasses.  
" Where's Mum?"  
  
" Sh-she's over on the swing." said Ron, gasping for breath. Percy walked away looking very aarogant, and muttering something about hating yard gnomes.  
  
" Hermione that was brilliant." said Ron.  
  
" No, that was awful of me." she said, but grinning all the same.  
Ron put his arm around her shoulders.  
  
" This calls for a celebration. I'm gonna get you some of Fred and Georges Mouth Moths." he said, leading her into the house." The make brightly colored moths made out of smoke come out of your mouth when you eat them."  
  
  
Harry didn't see any more gnomes to throw. He looked around for something to do. He noticed Ginny. She was climbing the fence surrounding the garden, and he followed.   
  
" Hey Ginny! Wait up!" he called, jumping over the fence. She turned around, slightly startled, and waited for him to catch up.  
  
"So, where are you going?" he asked, as they began to walk away from the Burrow.   
  
" I was going to the pond. There's a huge one back this way." she said.  
  
" Mind if I come?" Harry asked.  
  
" No, you can come."   
  
They walked for a while across a huge, green, grassy field. Ginny often picked handfulls of wildflowers. They didn't say much, and for the first time Harry realized he knew next to nothing about Ginny Weasley. Only bits and pieces.   
  
  
" Here we are." she said, as a huge pond came into view. " Isn't it lovely up here?"   
  
"Yeah." said Harry. It really was. There were countless flowers bordering the whole thing, and forrestry surrounded it. He sat down at the waters edge.  
  
" I've been curious about something." he said.  
  
"And what's that?"  
  
" I don't mean anything by this, but you're not shy anymore. At least not as shy as you were around me." said Harry.  
  
" Harry, I was eleven years old when I didn't even want to be in the same room with you." said Ginny with a grin.  
  
" I know it's just......."  
  
" Are you dissapointed?" she asked.  
  
" Well.........no......" he said. That was when he realized he was dissapointed. He thought it was awful and selfish of him, but all the same he was dissapointed.  
  
" Well, that's good." she said.  
  
" Yeah, and since I can have a conversation with you without you knocking something over, maybe I can get to know you better." said Harry.  
  
" Yeah, and vise-versa." she said.  
  
" So tell me, Ginny Weasley, why do you come up here."  
  
" To get away from explosions, teasings, and sarcasim."  
  
" Makes sense to me." said Harry.  
  
" So tell me, Harry Potter, why did you give all of your prize money from the tournament to my twin brothers?" Harry choked on his own spit.  
  
" What?!" he asked.  
  
" Yes, I know all about that. George really needs to learn to keep his bedroom door shut when he and Fred are having a secret conversation." she said, grinning mischevously.  
  
" You haven't told anyone?"   
  
" No, and I don't plan to. Actually I wanted to thank you for it."   
  
" No need, I wanted to give it to them, I have no use for it." he said. Ginny lowered her head.  
  
" Well, they do." she said. She walked over to where a large rose bush was growing and picked one of them. As she held it up to her nose and turned around a looked at Harry, an image flashed before his eyes. A woman with dark red hair and green eyes sniffing of a Rose and looking at a man with black, unruly hair and dark brown eyes. (okay,as if THATS not the most obvious thing you've ever read........)Harry shook his head and the image went away.   
  
" Are you allright?" Ginny asked, her eyebrows arched.  
  
"Huh? Yeah....I'm fine." he said, trying to figure out why that just happened. Ginny gave him a funny look.  
  
"Lets go back now, I'm hungry." she said. Harry followed her as she hiked through the field.   
  
By the time they got back, Harry was drenched in sweat. His white shirt had clear blotches all over it. Ginny looked in much better shape. She jumped the fence with the grace of a cat. Harry slowly climbed over it.   
  
" Are you sure you're okay?" she asked, steadily trying to catch her breath.  
  
He held his hand up as he caught his breath," I'm fine." He took his shirt off."(ooohhhh!shirtless harry! shirtless harry!...) I just need to change and get something to drink."   
  
" Allright, lets go in then." she said. Harry went upstairs while Ginny got them something to drink. He came back down with a lightweight yellow shirt on and some new jeans. Hermione and Ron had joined Ginny at the table.  
  
" Harry, watch this." said Hermione. She popped a taffy looking candy in her mouth and puffed out some butterfly-looking smoke moths. They landed on the table where they disentagrated.   
  
"Aren't they lovely?" Harry grinned in reply.  
  
" Here." said Ginny, handing him a glass of ice water.  
  
"Thanks." he said before draining the glass. He ran his hand through his sweaty hair. Hermione and Ginny giggled.   
  
" Need a hairbrush?" Ron asked.  
  
"What?" asked Harry. He went to the mirror hanging beside the window. The mirror gasped.   
  
" Good lord child! What on earth happened?" it asked. Harry probably would've said the same thing. His sweaty hair was sticking straight up on his head at least three inches. If he passed himself on the street he'd think he'd been electricuted.   
  
" I think I need a haircut."  
  
  
~***~  
  
  
  
Diagon Alley was swarming with people buying things for the up-coming school term. Harry was sitting in a barbers shop getting his hair cut by a very strange, short looking wizard with a huge crooked nose. He was taking his wand and Harry could see little red,green, and gold sparks flying in front of his face with every lock of hair he magic-cut. When he got done and washed and dried his hair one last time he gave Harry a mirror. He was amazed.  
  
" I wish I could've gone to a wizards barber shop before." said Harry. His hair was shorter, but still sticking out in every direction; therefore, the wizard had put gel in it to tame it, and he thought that there was some sort of spell put on it to make it stay in place. He thanked the wizard, and paid him then went outside to see what the others thought.   
  
" Wow Harry, it looks great." said Hermione.  
  
" Still kinda spikey looking though." said Ron," But it looks better."  
  
" Looks good." said Ginny, grinning.   
  
The four of them walked along the streets holding bags and bags of school supplies. Mrs.Weasley stopped them and put spells on the bags so that they followed her around.   
  
Ron and Harry went into the quidditch supply store while Ginny and Hermione went next door to Miss Charlotte's beauty store. Harry had just enough gold to buy he and Ron some quidditch magazines. When Hermione a Ginny finally came out of Miss Charlotte's they were each wearing a new pair of dangling silver earrings and carrying little bags of lipgloss and such.  
  
" Well Ladies, after a tedious day of shopping we need to be on our way home." said Harry. Hermione linked aroms with Ron and Ginny, and Ginny linked her free arm with one of Harry's. And together they found Mrs.Weasley and took a wild ride by floo powder back to the Burrow.   
  
  
A/N: Please excuse any mis-spellings. I haven't the time nor the patience to look up words. Before I upload the next chapter I'm gonna hafta figure out how. :-s Hmmmm.........Well, anywayz, I'm gonna hafta figure out a plot too. lol. Laterz fanfic ppl.  
  
P.S. PLEASE REVIEW!!!! 


	2. The Ball, the kiss, and the death eater

  
  
  
Harry squinted as warm summer sunlight filled his eyes. Wondering why the sun was so bright that early in the morning, he shut them and laid back onto his pillow,totally relaxed and enjoying the early quietness of the Weasley household. He was just about to fall into dreamfilled sleep again when he shot up like he was sitting on a spring.   
  
"Ron we're late!"he yelled, throwing his long legs over the edge of the bed and running over to Rons. Brushing strands of jet black hair out of his eyes, he attempted to shake him awake. For a moment he thought the completely still Ron was dead, until he tried to punch Harry in the stomach, sleppily missing his target. His limp arm fell to the side of the bed.  
  
"Go 'way." came Ron's muffled voice against the pillow.   
  
" We're going to miss the train!" Harry said loudly, in order to wake Ron up.  
  
" We're going to what?" a still half asleep Ron asked as he raised his head off the pillow, halfway opened his brown eyes, and looked at the clock. Harry let out an exasperated sigh.  
  
" The alarm didn't go off. I think you're clock is dead." said Harry, cocking his head at the slupmping clock on Ron's bedside table.  
  
" Hmm?" Ron poked the clock with one of his long, delicate fingers." Hey! Wake up!" The tiny alarm clock stood up straight , and with a look of confusion on his face, looked at the two boys.  
  
" Didn't you see I was tryin' tah take a nap?" came the croaking voice of the little gold clock.   
  
" Yeah, we saw that." said Ron, irritated." And aren't you the one who was supposed to wake us up at 7:30?"  
  
" Yeah, so? Give a guy a break evrah now an' then. It's not like ya hada hot date or anathang. All of us clocks decided to sleep in taday. " Ron grabbed the now angry clock off his table, and stuffed it in one of his already cluttered drawers. He then climbed out of his own bed and, rubbing his eyes, stood up rather groggily.  
  
" Wonder why Mum hasn't woken up yet. She usually wakes up automatically at 9:00" he stated.   
  
" I haven't the slightest idea." said Harry. For a moment he pondered on why he couldn't catch up with Ron when it came to growing in height. Ron was at least two feet taller than he was.   
  
Ron yawned. " I guess we'd better go and wake everyone up. I'll wake Mum up, and you can go wake Ginny-but I'd be careful with her. She likes to sleep in and she's liable to hurt you if you try to wake her up before she wants to." and Ron walked slowly out the door, looking as if he was trying to keep his balance. Harry followed after him, dimly aware he probably looked the same way.   
As Ron turned into one room, Harry kept descending the stairs until he came to a room with a silver plaque that read Genevive Weasley. He knocked on the door, his senses begining to return to him, and his eyes finally begining to focus. He pulled his glasses out of his pocket, remembering to put them on. He knocked on the door.The he cautiously opened the heavy oak door after getting no response. He stuck his head in.   
The scent of lavender tickled his nose. He opened the door wider, and took a look around. The walls were painted a light purple, and the furniture was white. Instead of being piled up with dirty clothes, the dresser was piled with makeup and perfume. The curtains and bed spread were white, and Ginny looked like she was floating amongst some soft, fluffy clouds. He was feeling more and more peaceful by the second. 'Must be the lavender' he thought. He pushed his curiostity aside for the moment, and went to wake Ginny up.   
  
" Ginny?" he said softly, shaking her. His hands liked the way her silky light blue pajamas felt.  
  
"Wha?" said a slumbering Ginny without opening her eyes. She rolled over once again, getting even more tangled up in her blankets. Harry rested his hands on the edge of the bed, and took a deep breath. He began to shake her a little bit harder until-  
  
"OMPH!" and he fell to the ground clutching his you-know-what and curling up in pain.  
  
Ginny had kicked him right in the groin.( or however you spell it)  
  
" HARRY!" Ginny's red head snapped off her pillow, and she threw herself on the floor beside him.   
  
"Are you okay?!" 'I cannot believe I did that!' she thought. Harry waved his hand as if to say 'Don't worry about it.'  
  
"Don't-" but he stopped when he realised that his voice was higher pitched than usual.   
  
" Oh, Harry, I didn't mean to-I didn't know it was you!" said Ginny, her hands flying up to her mouth. Harry rolled over onto his stomach and tried to stand up, occasionally grunting in pain when his feet slid out from under him. When he opened his eyes, he noticed they weren't focusing right.   
  
" Are you sure you're allright?" said the blue and red blob in front of him. Harry put a hand on her shoulder to balance himself.  
  
" I'll..... be...f-INE!" he tried to say as another sharp pain went through him. Ginny watched the tall, thin boy with bad bedhead stagger out of her bedroom. She stood there for a moment, vaugley aware of what just happened. She stretched and yawned-then her eyes fell on her slumping clock.  
  
"WE'RE LATE!!"  
  
~**¤**~  
  
  
  
An hour later the Hogwarts Express was standing tall and proud in front of them.   
  
" Now all fo you-stay out of trouble." Mrs.Weasley said to all of them-though she was pointing at Fred and George.   
  
" Don't worry Mum. We'll be sure to send you pictures of people after they eat one of the candies we invented this summer." said George. Mrs.Weasley gave him a warning look that melted into a smile as she kissed them both.   
  
" 'Bye Dad." the said as they gave him a quick hug, then ran up to a group of kids their own age.   
  
" Now you both got your new dress robes?" Mrs.Weasley said to Ginny and Ron.  
  
" Yes Mum." they both said. She gave them each a hug, followed by Mr.Weasley.   
  
"Have a good time this year." Mrs.Weasley said to Hermione, and then gave her a hug also. Mr.Weasley said bye to her as she and Ginny loaded their things onto the train. Mrs.Weasley turned to Harry.  
  
" Now, things are going to happen this year that we probably won't like, but remember we're here for you." said Mrs.Weasley before she gave Harry a hug.  
  
" I'll remember."   
  
" Good luck Harry." said Mr.Weasley. They said their final goodbyes as they boarded the train. Harry was begining to get the idea of what it felt like to leave a family you loved behind for a whole year. He didn't like leaving them behind, knowing he wouldn't be seeing them for a while, but he liked knowing that they would be there when he came back.   
  
  
~**¤**~  
  
  
  
Harry stared out the window. All he had seen for the last few hours had been trees, trees, and more trees. Green, green,green. He loved trees as much as the next person, but he also liked a change of scenery every now and then.   
Crookshanks was lying at Hermiones feet, who had her head in Rons lap, her bushy brown hair going everywhere with Ron's arm resting on her waist. All three of them were asleep. You'd think they wouldn't be sleepy from sleeping in late that morning. Evidently not. Ginny was also asleep. She was lying in the floor near the door, her pale hands under her head and red hair covering her face. It was very peaceful in the compartment, Harry thought. He could hear the low murmur of the other students talking in their compartments.   
A sad, but excited feeling washed over him as he began to think. He only had three years of school left. After that, where would they all end up? Would they all still be here? Would he still be here?  
And what was he going to do if they never saw each other again? He couldn't imagine life withought his friends. He couldn't imagine life after Hogwarts. He felt a deep sadness at that moment, as he look around him at the sleeping people. How was he supposed to survive without them? Time seemed to stand still in that compartment. No one was saying anything, no one was moving. It was so peaceful. Harry didn't want that night to ever be over. He wished they could stay on that train forever........   
Ginny raised her head as the train jolted, which snapped him back into reality.   
  
" Mmm...."  
  
" I'm glad someone's finally awake." Harry said in a hushed voice, grinning. She smiled back, as she stood up and sat next to Harry, rubbing her hands over her face.   
  
" I'm almost awake."   
  
" We're about there anyway." said Harry.   
  
" How can you tell?" Ginny asked as she looked at the identical trees going past the window.  
  
" See, we always pass this huge tree with a broken limb at the top that makes it a perfect angle at the tip. That means we're about thirty minutes away from Hogwarts. "  
  
" I see."said Ginny, looking outside with interest.  
  
  
The tree's began to clear as the neared Hogwarts. Ginny woke Hermione and Ron up, while Harry gathered all of their things that they had thrown about the compartment.   
  
"We must've been asleep forever." said Ron, blinking hard.  
  
" I have a horrible crick in my neck." Hermione moved her neck from side to side. Harry stood up just as the train jerked to a stop, making him fall back into his chair.   
  
Nervous and excited as she always was when a new year started, Ginny said, "We're here."  
  
  
  
~**¤**~  
  
  
  
Huge rays of early November sunlight shone out of the huge dormitory windows and fell on Harry as he dragged himself out of bed and over to his dresser, pulling out his robes. He brushed his teeth, and combed his hair-adding gel to make it look tamed. He threw on his robes and went to the common room where he found Ron and Hermione waiting on him.  
  
School had been going as it always had, except that they had all quickly found out that Dumbledore had agreed with parents to possition Dragons at the very ends of the Hogwarts grounds. So, as you can tell, they had seen much of Charlie these past few weeks.  
  
Harry was worried about Sirius also. He hadn't heard a word from him all year, although Harry had written him many times.  
  
" What has been up with Malfoy this year?" Ron asked when they seated themselves in the Great Hall.  
  
" What do you mean?" asked Hermione.  
  
" Well, look at how he's been acting. Sure, he still says the same rude stuff, but he's more quiet than he's ever been." he said, dropping his voice and leaning foward." I bet it's all the stuff him and his death eater dad have been doing." Just then Malfoy walked into the hall looked very much exhausted.  
  
" Now Ron, I know he's evil, but we can be sure that he himself is a death eater." Hermione said, watching the tired boy fall into his chair. He straigtened himslef up, and looked around, though he seemed to be putting much effort into acting like he wasn't worn out.   
  
" Hermione! Have you gone bonkers?!?Of course he's a death eater! They probably had a meeting last night, and somehow Malfoy got to it, and that's why he's so exhausted!" said Ron, his red hair coming out of place. Resting his elbow on the table, Harry propped his head up on his hand, trying to drown out his friends bickering. Ron continually saying Malfoy was a death eater and Hermione insisting that he was 'innocent until proven guilty' went on for a few minutes until Ron threw his hands up.   
  
" Fine! Just wait and you'll see Hermione. We'll all see when a big group of those nutters come barging into the school thinking they can take over." said Ron. Harry raised up, glad the argument was over-but then again, an argument between Ron and Hermione was never over, he thought as they glared at each other from across the table.  
  
  
~**¤**~  
  
Ron's head began to fall backwards as his eyes closed and his mouth opened, and for the up-teenth time Harry had to smack him up-side the head. Ron's eyes opened, and he slumped foward onto his folded arms. A very faint snoring sound was coming from him now. Harry looked at Hermione, who was on Ron's other side, and she shrugged, obviously giving up on trying to keep Ron awake. It wasn't like Professor Binns was going to see him anyway. They were in the back of the class and in front of Ron sat a seven foot tall fifth year, with weight to spare, from Ravenclaw.  
  
" And so the South African trolls conquered the gnome kingdom of Weferage. Now turn to page 476 and you will see........" The Professor went on and on about how Weferage looked after it was conquered. Before leaving their conquered kingdom the trolls forced the gnomes to drink potions which made them the size they are today. It was hard to imagine one of the gnomes Harry had thrown over a fence being nine feet tall. Evidently, after their kingdom was taken over, the gnomes spread around the world to live in witches and wizards backyards. When Binns looked like he himself was going to fall asleep he finally shut his book.  
  
" Class dissmissed." It took Hermione and Harry both to wake Ron up. When they finally did, he rubbed his eyes, grabbed his bag and books and followed them out of the classroom to their next class, Potions.   
  
" I don't see how we could end up with the Slytherins every year!"said Ron.  
  
" Don't ask me how they make our schedules up, I couldn't tell you." said Harry. " I'm like you though, I would much rather have Potions with the Ravenclaws or Hufflepuffs." said Harry. They took seats near the back as they had in Binns' class. Ron looked like he was settling in for a long winters nap, and Hermione scolded him for thinking of sleeping in Potions class.  
  
" Do you remeber that he takes points away from us for breathing? He'll go wild when he finds you sleeping. Stay awake!" she said. Ron glared at her, but raised his head up and pretended to listen anyway.  
Snape walked around the room with his hands behind his back as he spoke, glaring at almost every student. He was explaining to them the importance of measuring their ingredients perfectly after Neville had put too much dragons tongue in his potion and it had exploded all over his hands and scolded them horribly. Snape took his time cleaning up the mess before finally letting him go to the hospital wing. Neville hadn't returned yet.   
  
" If I ever catch any of you cutting and of the ingredients wrong again, I'll take fifty points away from Gryffindor! Understood?" apparently he thought that it would be snowing in Hell before Slytherin cut any of their ingredients wrong.   
  
Harry couldn't be happier when the class was finally over. Ron and Hermione looked the same way too.  
  
" I wonder how Neville's doing." Hermione said.  
  
" I dunno, but he may be in there for a few days. The burns probably made him sick to his stomach." said Ron.  
  
"I have quidditch practice in thirty minutes." said Harry, looking at his watch. Harry was team captain, and Christian VonNaland was their new keeper. Harry had insisted Ron try out, but he refused because he didn't have the proper broom to play quidditch on.  
  
" Well, eat some dinner first and then go." said Hermione. Harry didn't eat much. He was afraid he would get sleepy like he always did after he ate.( is it just me or am I always writing about people sleeping or being sleepy?......)  
  
  
~**¤**~   
  
  
Harry walked slowly up to the common room, dragging his broom behind him. Quidditch practice had lasted forever. Harry had let everyone else go back to the common room an hour ago, and he was left with cleaning up the field. It took him half an hour to do that and another half an hour to get back up to the castle from the field. It was very late, and Harry couldn't wait to slip into his bed and relax against the soft, warm covers and cushy matress. ( there I go again, talkin about sleepin.......) When he entered the common room he wasn't surprised to see that no one else was there. He had almost reached the stairs to his dormitory when he heard a voice.  
  
" Harry? Harry come here!" he recongnized the whispering voice immediately.   
  
" Sirius?!" he asked, flopping in front of the fireplace.   
  
" Yes." said his godfather, smiling.   
  
" What-how are you?" Harry asked." And why haven't you written me?"  
  
"I'm sorry about that, I'm afraid I have been quite busy. When I got home this evening I found all of your letters waiting on the kitchen table for me." said Sirius, still grinning.  
  
" You said you went home. Are you still staying with Professor Lupin?" asked Harry, sitting cross legged on the floor.  
  
" Yes, we didn't want everyone to know that he was 'my master' but since it was in the Daily Prophet Remus decided that I should stay with him. I'm better off there anyway. I don't have to hunt for food any longer." Sirius said, a twinkle in his eyes. Harry had to admit he looked better than he had in a long time. He was clean, his hair was cut, and his face was shaven. Then again, Harry thought, the last time he had talked to him by fireplace he had looked well taken care of too, but when he actually saw him in person he looked awful.   
  
" Why have you been so busy?" Harry asked.  
  
" Well, I've been spying on some of the Death Eater meetings." his face grew serious." They haven't been pretty."  
  
" What's happened?" Harry asked.  
  
" I've only seen a few. There was one last night and they took one of their own and did some kind of curse on them- one I had never heard of. Dark magic of course."  
  
" What did they do to them though? What happened?" Harry wasn't sure he wanted to know, but he was very interested   
  
"Well, I'm not sure. I think that Voldemort needed some strength, so he took some from one of his followers."  
  
" Who was it?"  
  
" I coul't hear what they were saying, I was too far away, but whoever it was, they were young."   
  
" Hmm......"  
  
" I need to be going now. You look exhausted, what have you been doing? I was surprised to have found you this late, and just now walking into the common room."   
  
" Oh, I had quidditch practice."  
  
" Oh yes, and you are the capatain now!! That's my boy!" said Sirius, smiling. " Well, I need to go now. See you."  
  
" Bye."  
  
"Go to sleep, and take a bath for goodness sake, you even SMELL like you've been playing quidditch." said Sirius as he faded away. Harry smiled and laughed lightly. When Sirius was completely gone, and all was quiet again, Harry picked up his broom, went to his dormitory and climbed into bed. He'd take a shower in the morning.   
  
  
~**¤**~  
  
  
  
The hooded figures circled around the Dark Lord. There were many of them now. Much more than there was the night Voldemort had come back. They were in an old Spanish mission. It was basically ruins and none of them really knew exactly where they were. Voldemort, who looked just as awful as he had in the cemetary, was standing in the middle of a huge circle of death eaters, young and old. You couldn't see any of their faces, and none of them were talking.   
  
" I assume everyone is here. We haven't got much to do tonight. First of all I want to thank this brave young man for what he did for me last night. " One of the cloaked figures bowed his head as Voldemort pointed a long, white finger at him." But I am afraid there is something else I need you to do for me." The firgure raised his head." Somewhere in the Hogwarts castle Albus Dumbledore has a pensieve. Now, with that Pensieve, I could find out his strengths and weaknesses. I could find unimaginable information on him. I need you to get me that Pensieve. Do this task for me. The reward will be great." said the Dark Lord.   
  
" Yes master. It would be an honor."  
  
" Very well then. You may leave now. I see no reason for you to stay." The figure bowed his head again, and left the circle quietly. Voldemort turned to another figure.  
  
" Watch him. Make sure he does what he is told. You may also leave now." The figured bowed, and left just as quietly as the other.   
  
  
~**¤**~ ( yeah suuuurrrrreee, like you don't know who the first 'hooded figure' was...)  
  
  
  
  
  
  
"YES YOU NEW LITTLE FIRST YEARS! THATS HARRY POTTER!!!"   
  
  
Harry rolled his eyes. Lee Jordan kept talking about the quidditch past of all the players. For the first quidditch game of the season it was very boring. Nothing had happened, and nobody had made any points yet. Harry even saw two of the Hufflepuff players floating in the air having a nice little chat while the rest of them raced around the field hoping to somehow score a few points. Then Harry was relieved when Angelina finally got hold of the quaffle and gained them points. After that, it was pretty much boring. Someone would get the quaffle, and someone else would block their shot. Harry hadn't seen any sign of the snitch, and the Hufflepuff seeker looked like he was about to fall off his broom from boredom. The only really exciting thing that happened was when one of the Hufflepuff players was knocked off their broom by a bludger and Fred Weasley flew underneath her and caught her. Then Harry saw it. Right beside on of the Hufflepuff chaser's ears. Harry went for it. When the chaser noticed him flying at him at what seemed to a hundered miles an hour his face looked terrified, but Harry grabbed the snitch just barely missing the chaser. The game was over. Gryffindor had won.   
  
~**¤**~  
Malfoy's PoV:  
  
  
Draco Malfoy walked silently along the corridor. He was following Potter and his pathetic little group of friends as they went to their common room after the feast in the Great Hall. He knew he had to be silent as he walked, and he knew he had to figure out the password to their common room so he could get his cloak. Prowling around after Potter wasn't exactly one of his favorite after-hours activities, but he knew that, under the circumstances, he had to do it. He threw himself behind a suit of armor when that ignorant female Weasley girl turned around.   
  
" Do any of you get the feeling that we are being followed?" she asked the others.  
  
" Ginny, I don't think that anyone would be following us, and besides-where would they hide? If they were close enough for you to hear them they would have to find somewhere to hide near us."said Ron. He opened his arms wide. "There isn't anywhere." he then put his arm around his sister and continued along with the rest. Draco rolled his eyes. Idiots. He was just about to come out from behind the suit of armor when he saw a shadow move across the corridor from behind him. He slowly climbed out from behind the armor and began walking. He turned around suddenly just in time to see a lock of dark red, curly hair fly behind some armor. He went as quickly as he could over to the spot. Cold, hazel eyes looked back at him, brows narrowed. He garbbed ahold of the fifteen year old girls wrist and wrenched her out from behind the armor. She made no attemp to free herself.  
  
" Why are you following me Wooten?" Draco hissed.  
  
" I was sent to follow you. To make sure you finished your task. If you don't mind, I would like to have my arm back now." said the girl. Draco din't release his grip.  
  
" Who sent you?"  
  
" You know who sent me. HE sent me." she said, raising her chin. Draco released her, but continued glaring.  
  
" Well, I have to get an invisibility cloak from Potter and he and his dim-witted crew are way ahead of me. I really must be going."  
  
" Lead the way."  
  
" Go back to the comoon room!"  
  
" I was given an order! I don't intend to back down from it!" she hissed back, raising her face to his and looking determined.  
  
" Very well then. Just stay as far behind me as possible." And Draco led the way wondering why everyone couldn't just leave him be.  
  
  
When they had finally caught up with Potter and the rest, they were turning a corner into a corridor that dead-ended. Draco stood flat against the wall and waited. Granger said 'Babble grabble' to the portrait on the wall, and with a bow of her head, the fat lady swung open revealing a huge hole which they climbed into.  
  
Draco waited for hours before the lady in the picture finally looked completely asleep. Then he went up to the portrait, his head down, and said 'Babble grabble'. The lady waved her hand aimlessly and the portrait swung open. He look cautiously around the common room, making sure no one was there, before he walked in. He walked quickly across the room to the first set of stairs he saw. He had no idea which flight of stairs led to the boys dormitories. He would just have to look inside one of the rooms and see. As he reached the top of the stairs he went to the first door he saw, and opened it.   
Flowery scents hit him like a gust of wind. He stepped back quickly, wrinkling up his nose.   
He then made his way to the other flight of stairs. After smelling flowers he figured that the other staircase led to the girls dormitories. When he got to the stop of the other staircase he went to the door across from him first. He immediately knew these were the boys dormitories. There were clothes and papers and books all over the place.   
  
" Pigs." Draco mutter. He scanned the room for anything that belonged to Potter. Then he saw it. Propped up next to one of the beds was Potter's Firebolt. Draco walked over to the foot of the bed and opened the trunk. He loooked around, making sure nobody was awake, and then lifted up the lid. Rolling his eyes at the fact that someone would just leave a cloak like this on the very top of a pile of stuff in an unlocked trunk, he covered himself with it, and ran down the stairs and out of the common room.  
  
  
~**¤**~  
  
  
  
  
  
" The Yule Ball is next week!" said Ron, following Harry around the dormitory as the aggravated boy attempted to clean up the mess of clothes and books he had around his bed.   
  
" I am aware of that, Ron."  
  
" Well who are you planning on going with? I mean, you don't want to ask someone at the last minute like we did last year do you?"   
  
" I plan on not going with anyone. It was too much trouble last year. By the way, why are you bugging me about this? I haven't heard anything about you having a date. " Harry said, eyebrows raised. Ron stuck his chest out.  
  
" As a matter of fact, I do........She just doesn't know it yet." Ron said, trying to look proud. Harry looked blankly at him for a moment, then started laughing.   
  
" How do you manage to have a date without that person knowing?"  
  
" Well, I haven't asked her yet - but I know she'll go with me."   
  
" Oh do you? And who may I ask is the girl?"   
  
" Er.............."  
  
" What was that? I didn't quite catch it." Ron said something that Harry couldn't hear.  
  
" Speak up please." Ron said it a bit louder that time, but Harry still couldn't hear it.  
  
" Come again?"   
  
" Aw! Why should I tell you anyway! You'll find out soon enough!"  
  
" I want to know now!" said a very amused Harry.  
  
" Well you're not going to until the Ball!"   
  
" Oh I think I will." said Harry, as Ron walked away. He ran and jumped on his back, making Ron fall to the floor. Harry pinned him down.   
  
" Now tell me!"  
  
" No!"  
  
" Why not?"  
  
" Because......oh I don't know!" Harry pressed his elbow into his spine.   
  
"OOOOOWWW!!!!!"  
  
"Well tell me then!"  
  
" I spit at the question!" Then Harry knew who it was. He realized why Ron had been so reluctant to tell him.   
  
" OH MY.............IT'S HERMIONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" Harry said, wearing a huge, amused smile. Ron stopped fighting. Harry rolled onto his back laughing.  
  
" So what if it is her!" he said, and when Harry kept laughing he punched him in the arm. Harry rubbed the spot, but continued laughing.  
  
" SEE! THIS IS WHY I DIDN'T WANT TO TELL YOU! I KNEW YOU'D DO THIS!" Harry grabbed hold of Ron's ankle as he began to walk away.   
  
" Wait-for-asec." said Harry, gasping for breath. He stood up. " Look, I'm not laughing at the fact that you're asking Hermione." Ron raised his eyebrows." Okay, maybe I am. But not because the idea of the two of you going together is funny, the fact that you haven't already asked her is what's funny. Come on, I know that you couldn't stand it when she went with Krum last year. You wanted to go with her. This year you DO need to ask her first, instead of a last resort." Ron looked up and grinned.  
  
" I know."   
  
" Don't worry about it. I'm sure she'll go with you...........or smack you, either one."  
  
~**¤**~  
  
  
" Where's my pink lip-gloss?!"  
  
" Has anyone seen my hair brush?"  
  
" How does my hair look?!"  
  
" Frizz frizz! What is up with all the frizz?!"  
  
" Hey Ron, do you have my hair gel?"  
  
" Yeah, here it is. Sorry, I tried to use it to stick a button back on one of my shirts......made kind of a mess.........."  
  
" You used it to stick a button back on?"  
  
" Well yeah, it looked as thick as glue. And the way the pieces of your hair stick together when you use it, I figured it worked like glue too."  
  
" Good grief............"  
  
Everyone was frantic the night of the Yule Ball. Harry had done what he'd said he'd do. He didn't have a date. Ron had done what he'd said he'd do also. Harry stilled grinned whenever he thought about what had happened when Ron asked her..........  
  
Ron had walked up to her in the common room one day, making sure no one was watching except Harry.   
  
" Oh, hi Ron." she'd said, looking over the edge of her book, her eyes crinkling into a smile.   
  
" Uhh....hi." he said, his hands in his pockets. He'd smiled back. Harry had rubbed his eyes in exasperation as Ron just stood in front of her.  
  
" Is there something you want to talk to me about or are you just going to stand there and watch me read?"   
  
" Err......yeah......I......," Ron began to sweat. Then he had stood up straight and tried to look serious." I was going to ask you if you wanted to go to the Ball with me."  
  
Hermione sat her book on her lap and stared, not looking amused.  
  
" Ron, this is a really cruel joke." His eyes went wide and he took his hands out of his pockets.  
  
" Joking? I'm not joking!" Hermione's expression changed from an angry one, to a grin.  
  
" You're seriously asking me to the ball?"   
  
" Well.........yeah." Hermione sat for a moment and then spoke.  
  
" Okay."   
  
" Really?!"  
  
" Yes, I'll go." she said, pulling her feet back into her chair and begining to read her book again. She wasn't smiling, nor frowning.  
  
" Well.......okay then." Ron had said, looking dazed. He had a confused look on his face as he walked back toward Harry, but behind him Harry saw Hermione looking at Ron over her book and she smiled and screeched to herself-obviously thrilled that Ron had asked her.   
  
  
And so they were going to the Ball together. Harry had never seen Ron so nervous. He thought it was quite funny.   
  
Ron paced back and forth in front of Harry as they waited for Hermione to come down to the common room.  
  
" Calm down. This is Hermione we're talking about! You're around her everyday!"said Harry.  
  
" I know. It's just different tonight though. I have to act a certain way."  
  
" No you don't. Just act like you usually would."  
  
" I'll try......."  
  
" And look! You have brand new dress robes." Ron grinned.  
  
" Yeah."   
  
" Hey Ron! Here she comes!" Ron, Harry, and Fred turned around as George announced that Hermione was coming down the stairs with Ginny. Harry thought Ron was going to collapse. Hermione grinned at the sight of the group looking at her, and tried to act like she didn't notice.   
  
" Whoa." said Ron as Hermione reached the bottom of the stairs. She was wearing robes that were a light purple-ish color this year. She had use the same stuff on her hair as she had last year, except she had curled it and put it on the top of the back of her head. Little silver fireflies held it up.   
  
" Way to go Ron!" whispered Fred as he and George went to find they're dates. Ron was trying to fit a whole sentence together when Harry looked over at Ginny. She was wearing slivery-blue robes and had her hair down with little diamonds that made it shimmer with the light. She had two white jewels at the outer corner of each eye, which made her eyes sparkle even more when she smiled. Harry noticed, as he looked at her, that she smelled lovely too.   
  
" What?" she asked. Harry didn't realize he'd been staring. Ginny had a look of slight confusion on her face.  
  
" Is there something on my face? What's wrong?" she said, looking self consious.   
  
" No...You look great." Harry said, trying not to blush. Ginny held her chin up slightly.  
  
" Thanks."  
  
" So, where's your date?" Harry asked, as he and Ginny began to follow Ron and Hermione out of the portrait hole.   
  
" Oh, I don't have one." she said.  
  
" What? Neville already taken?" he said, grinning. She grinned back.  
  
" Actually he was. Another girl from my year asked him."  
  
" Really?"  
  
" Yeah, I didn't really want a date anyway. Too much trouble." she said, winking at him.   
  
They went outside the castle and onto the dance floor. It looked much as it had last year, only there were no Triwizard Tournament champions.   
  
Harry enjoyed watching Ron and Hermione together. They looked as though they were having a blast. Harry himself hadn't danced at all that night. He didn't want to though. He was a horrible dancer. Everytime he saw Ginny she was dancing with a different person. And everytime he noticed this, he felt what he thought was anger.   
  
He was startled when she came to sit by him.   
  
" Hey! Why haven't you been dancing?"  
  
" I don't really like to dance." he said, fidgeting with his hands.  
  
"Well, that's okay. I'll sit with you for a while. I need to take a break anyway." After a few moments of talking, Ron and Hermione joined them. They were both grinning from ear to ear.   
  
" Hiya Harry. Why don't you dance with anyone?" askd Ron.  
  
" I can't dance."   
  
" Yes you can, you did last year."  
  
" Yeah, I can slow dance, but I can't fast dance."  
  
" Sure you can."  
  
" Not." Harry said.Ron sighed.  
  
" Well, okay, if you don't want....." but his voice faded as he looked at Hermione, who was grinning slightly at a boy sitting at the table next to them. The boy was grinning at her. Ron stared at her as she lookedwaay from the boy and toward everyone else. She was smiling until she noticed Harry and Ginny were looking at Ron, and then at her. She turned to Ron.  
  
" What?"  
  
" You smiled at him."   
  
" I did not!" she said, laughing slightly.  
  
" Yes you did, I just saw you!"  
  
" Ron, calm down. It's no big deal."  
  
" No big deal?! Are you serious?!"  
  
" Ron, lets finish this in the common room." and Hermione got up and walked into the castle. Ron at her heels. Ginny and Harry looked at each other.  
  
" I'm going to follow them." said Ginny.  
  
" What?"  
  
" I want to see what happens! Come on, lets go." Ginny grabbed hold of his hand and led him into the castle.  
  
" Ginny, we shouldn't do this!" Harry said as they walked toward the common room.   
  
" It'll be allright. They won't see us." said Ginny. She was about to turn a corner when Harry heard yelling. He grabbed the back of Ginny's robes to stop her. She was about to protest when she heard yelling too. They each looked around the edge of the wall to see Ron and Hermione, who had obviously decided to have their argument in the middle of the corridor, standing across the hall from each other, thirty feet away from Harry and Ginny.   
  
" Ron! What is wrong with you?!?!?"  
  
" What's wrong with me?!?! WHAT'S WRONG WITH ME?!?!You flirting with another guy is what's wrong with me!!"  
  
" I WAS'NT FLIRTING!!!!"  
  
"WERE SO!"  
  
" WAS NOT!"  
  
" YEAH YOU WERE! AND I DIDN'T LIKE IT ONE BIT!"  
  
" WHO CARES?! WHY SHOULD YOU CARE ANYWAY? I'M NOT YOUR GIRLFRIEND!"  
  
" I KNOW THAT!"  
  
" THEN STOP ACTING LIKE I AM!"  
  
" I CAN'T!"  
  
" AND JUST WHY NOT?"  
  
" BECAUSE EVERYTIME I SEE YOU TALKING TO ANOTHER GUY I WANT TO TAKE THAT GUY AND TWIST HIS NECK AROUND UNTIL HIS HEAD POPS OFF!"  
  
" WHY?!? WHY SHOULD YOU CARE?"  
  
" YOU KNOW WHY!"  
  
" YES, I KNOW WHY! I JUST WANT TO HEAR YOU SAY IT SO I CAN BE SURE! TELL ME RON-TELL ME HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT US!"   
  
" YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW I FEEL ABOUT YOU AND ME?" and Ron began to walk toward her." I'LL TELL YOU HOW I FEEL ABOUT YOU AND ME!" and he leaned down and kissed her. Ginny gasped, and threw her hands up to her mouth. Harry's jaw dropped. Ginny then turned around to face Harry.  
  
" Maybe we shouldn't watch." she said, grinning.  
  
" Yeah. I know." they stood and looked at each other for a moment.  
  
" I can't believe they finally got together!!!!" said Harry excitedly, breaking the silence.   
  
" I know!! And Ron KISSED HER!"   
  
" I know!!!"   
  
  
They took one last peek at the two before they began to go back to the Ball. On their way down they saw other kids begining to come in the door.  
  
" Oh it's over."  
  
" Yeah, we missed it." said Harry.  
  
" That's okay. I'm glad we got to see what we did." said Ginny. They walked together to the common room, talking about Ron and Hermione and wondering how they were going to act from now on. When they reached the common room, they saw that Ron and Hermione had already gone up to their rooms.   
  
" Well! I wanted to talk to them!" sadi Ginny.  
  
" I've got it. You talk to Hermione, I'll talk to Ron, and we'll fill each other in on the details tommorrow."   
  
" Sounds like a plan." they said good night, and then raced to their common rooms.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
A/N: Again, please excuse any misspellings. I like to type fast, and I'm not the best at spelling in the first place. BTW, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!  
  



	3. No more Dursley's

  
  
  
" He will be very pleased to hear this."  
  
" I'm sure he will. The poor boy, having to live with those horrid muggles all these years."  
  
" Yes, but that is about to change........"  
  
  
" Headmaster? What are you doing here?"  
  
" Just let us in please."   
  
" As you wish." and the Fat Lady swug foward to expose the Gryffindor common room. Hermione, and the Weasley's looked up, startled at having two professors visit at once. Usually none of the Professors but McGonagall came to the common room. Professor Dumbledore looked from Professor McGonagall and then to the rest of the room, smiling at the sudden silence and curiosity in their faces.   
  
" Do any of you know where I could find- oh, here he is now." said Dumbledore, turning around to face Harry and Fred, who had just walked in behind them looking just as confused, but interested, as the other students.   
  
" Harry, may we have a word with you?"  
  
" Err....yes, of course." said Harry, begining to look slightly worried. He followed the two Professors out of the common room and into the corridor. The Fat Lady watched them closely.  
  
" We have news for you Harry."  
  
" News Professor?"Harry shifted his weight on his feet.  
  
" Yes, news. The Ministry caught a group of three death eaters last night when they were in the middle of tying a family of muggles to brooms and then letting them float off into the distance with no idea where they were going to end up. This is after they did other things to the mother and children of which I am not going to tell but I'm thinking you will be able to get the idea of what it was." said Dumbledore, his face growing serious.  
  
"Were the muggles allright?" asked Harry, disgusted at what Voldemorts followers were doing.   
  
" Yes, after the Ministry found the Father and two children floating across an open field, they performed memory charms on all of them. But this is not why I am telling you all of this, I am telling you this because the three death eaters that were caught." he paused to look at Harry. A thought came across Harrys mind, but he pushed it out of the way. There was no way that could have happened anyway.  
  
" Who?" he asked. Dumbledore could hardly contain his excitement. He wanted to keep Harry guessing because that would make the expression on his face even more priceless after he told him who one of the death eaters was, but he knew that now would be the best time. Professor McGonagall smiled and looked excited herself as Dumbledore began to speak.   
  
" Peter Pettigew was caught two nights ago and has been placed in Azkaban. That is, after the ministry used truth spells on him to make him spill the beans about how he managed to be alive after he was proclaimed dead." Harry's jaw dropped. Did he just hear what he thought he heard? His mind was fighting within itself. No, that couldn't be true. Things like this didn't happen to Harry. No, he had to be mistaken. He looked up at Dumbledore with questioning eyes.  
  
" It is true Harry."   
  
Harry blinked. He didn't want to jinx anything and make the excitement that was slowly growing in his stomach to go away.   
  
" That means....Sirius is cleared?" he asked softly withought looking at anyone.   
  
" Yes, Harry. It does." said Dumbledore. Harry looked up at both Professor's, who he saw were beaming at him, and smiled. He wanted to hug them both, to run and tell everyone in the common room, and to go find Sirius himself at that very moment. His feet kept on going from left to right in the space he was standing in. He looked as though he was doing a sort of dance. He had so many questions and he didn't know where to start. Dumbledore looked amused. Harry wanted to jump up and down. Professor McGonagall looked very pleased and was beaming at him. Harry couldn't think of anything to do but laugh. And he did. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall along with him.   
  
" The Dursley's are no longer my guardians!!!!" Harry practically yelled, throwing his hands up.  
  
" That's right." said Dumbledore.  
  
" Congratulations Potter!" said McGonagall.  
  
" Thank you Professor! Thank you!" said Harry.  
  
" Harry?" He looked at Dumbledore who suddenly turned, along with McGonagall, and looked to the end of the corridor where a huge black dog morphed into a man.   
  
" Why don't we wait in the common room Minerva? We can alert Mister Weasley and Miss Granger that Harry will be bursting through the Fat Lady withought waiting to give her a password any moment now in a mad dash to tell his friends what has happened." said Dumbledore, twinkling as he usually did.  
  
" He most certainly will not!" said the Fat Lady as the Professors walked in.  
Harry turned to Sirius as the portrait closed. Sirius looked back. He seemed slightly nervous.  
  
" So..........they've told you?"  
  
" Yes." Harry seemed to think that now was the time to ask questions." And I need to know some stuff. Like, where do you live? When do I move in? How big is your house? Have you......." and then a thought came to him. What if Sirius didn't want him to live with him? He knew that he had asked him if he wanted to the night they met, but maybe he had changed his mind. Harry stopped and looked at Sirius who had been walking toward him while he had been talking.   
  
" I mean.......that is..... if you still........" Harry began.  
  
" My house is near Hogsmeade, it's not very big, and since there are still four days of your Christmas vacation left we can go to your aunt and uncle's today and have you moved in in no time." said Sirius, looking increasingly happy by the second. Harry thought that if the smile he smiled at that moment had been any larger his cheeks would have popped. They stood for a moment smiling at each other when Sirius finally spoke.  
  
" Well then! I guess you can go tell Ron and Hermione and whoever else you want and then we can be on our way." said Sirius. Harry was about to turn to go to the common room when he stopped, turned back around, and ran up to Sirius and hugged him. Sirius hugged him back tightly. Harry looked up and saw tears welling up in his god-fathers eyes just as soon as they both heard the Fat Lady bawling with happiness in her frame with a handkerchief in her hands. Harry grinned, ran up to the Fat Lady, gave the password, and ran through the portrait hole where Dumbledore and McGonagall smiled at him and exited the common room. Hermione giggled at the sight of Harry.   
  
" What is going on? I don't believe I've ever seen you this happy!" she said, grinning.  
  
" We've been waiting forever for you to get in here and tell us what's going on! Come now! Tell us!" said Ron. Harry leaned in and whispered to them.  
  
" Wormtail's in Azkaban." Hermione's and Ron's faces lit up to look just as excited as Harry. Hermione began to jump up and down screaming before she jumped onto Harry and wrapped him in a hug.   
  
" THIS IS GREAT!!" exclaimed Ron, who along with Harry had begun to scream with joy too.   
  
" What's going on?!" asked Ginny, Fred, and George. Harry, Ron, and Hermione stopped. Would it be wise to tell them?  
  
" Be right back." said Harry, who opened up the portrait hole and stuck his head out.   
  
"Professor Dumbledore?" asked Harry.  
  
" Yes?" said the headmaster, who was talking with Sirius and McGonagall.  
  
" Should I tell anyone about this?" Dumbledore thought for a moment.  
  
" It should be in the papers tomorrow. Then everyone will know the whole story, including the bit about Sirius being your god-father." Harry stood thinking for a moment. He then looked back up at Dumbledore.  
  
" Can I tell the Weasley's?"   
  
" I don't think it would hurt, although you may need to ask Molly and Arthur before you do. They may be better at explaining everything." the Headmaster said, folding his hands and smiling. Harry closed the portrait and walked quickly back into the room.   
  
" Ron, Hermione, lets go." he said, poking them both in the arm and motioning for them to follow him into the dormitory. Fred and George jumped out of their chairs.  
  
" Now wait just a minute! We want to know what went on with you and Dumbledore!" said Fred, looking stubborn.  
  
" You'll find out soon enough, but I'm not allowed to tell you right now." said Harry, grinning from the stairs. Fred, George, and Ginny looked at each other, very confused.  
  
A few moments later, Harry, Ron, and Hermione came flying down the stairs. Harry had told them the whole story, and they were extremely excited about the whole thing. Harry told them bye and then exited the common room, fighting off questions from the Weasley's.  
  
Sirius was waiting for him outside, looking very excited himself.   
  
" Ready?" he asked.  
  
" Yeah." said Harry. He followed Sirius outside to find a cariage waiting to take them to Hogsmeade station. He and Sirius climbed in, neither saying anything for a few moments. Harry couldn't quit grinning. He couldn't believe his luck. He was never going to have to see the Dursley's again. Never! Except for when he got his stuff from their house.   
  
" I hope you like it where I live. There aren't many houses around mine, and there's lot of forest to explore." said Sirius.  
  
" Anywhere but the Dursleys is heaven to me."  
  
" I haven't been to the house yet. That means that everything will be boxed and packed away. I'll have to get it all out again and arrange it." Sirirus looked happy about this.   
  
" Can I help?" asked Harry.  
  
" Well, yes, I guess. If you want to."  
  
" When am I supposed to go back to Hogwarts?"  
  
" Well....since we have magic, we could probably have everything pretty much unpacked and my furniture set up by sometime late tonight. You can spend your first night in your own room tonight. Then you can be on your way to Hogwarts tomorrow, or you can stay a bit longer. You still have four days of vacation left after all. "   
  
" Okay." said Harry, still grinning beyond his control.   
  
  
  
~**¤**~  
  
  
A few hours later, Harry and Sirius were walking up to the front door of Number Four Private Drive. Harry picked up the newspaper that had been thrown into a trash can by the door. He turned pages until he found the part about Sirius being cleared. After all, they couldn't have muggles looking for him any longer. He showed it to Sirius and while Sirius read he knocked on the door. Aunt Petunia answered and he face fell as soon as she saw him.   
  
" What are you doing here? Got yourself kicked out did you? Well you can just tell them we aren't taking you back until the summer." she hissed and began to shut the door. Harry grabbed it to stop her.   
  
" You won't be seeing me again after today." said Harry.  
  
" And just why not?" she asked, looking suspicious.  
  
" I've come to get my things. I'm moving out. Im going to live with my God-father, Sirius Black." he said, opening the door wide enough for his aunt to see Sirius, who looked up from his paper and grinned at her. Her eyes went wide with fear.   
  
" VERNON!!!" and she went running into the living room.  
  
" VERNON VERNON IT'S HIM!!!!! THE BOY HAS BROUGHT HIM HERE!" she was yelling. Sirius gave Harry a puzzled, but Harry could see the amused sparkle in his eyes.  
  
" Who has brought who here?" said Uncle Vernon.  
  
" THE BOY HAS BROUGHT SIRIUS BLACK HERE!"  
  
" WHAT?!"and they both came running to the door. Uncle Vernon looked beside himself with anger.  
  
" You?! Him!? Here!? How?!" he barked.  
  
" We have come to get my things so I can move out. Then you will never see me again."  
  
This sparked their interest.  
  
" Nope, never. You'll never have to put up with me or my magic again. I'll be gone-forever."  
  
" Where are you going?" asked Vernon.  
  
" To live with Sirius."   
  
" And murderer?" Vernon said with a nasty grin.  
  
" He's not a murderer. He was cleared."   
  
" Ah yes." said Vernon with an even worse grin."Well, be my guest, go get your things." he said, motioning at the stairs.   
  
" Yes, now, I need you both to sign the adoption papers please. Giving me legal custody of Harry." said Sirius, pulling the papers out of his pocket. He handed them to Vernon, stll grinning slightly. Uncle Vernon and Aunt Petunia stood back to where Vernon had lean forward and stretch his arm out as far as it could go in order to take the papers from Sirius, which he did quickly. The stared at each other for a moment, when Sirius, though he felt guilt and childish later on, decided to test them for his own fun. He leaned casually against the door frame and took out his wand, swinging it around in circles. Then he noticed they were eyeing the wand with fear in their eyes. He jerked his head up quickly.  
  
"BOO!" he said loudly to them. The two stupid muggles shrieked and went into the kitchen to look the papers over while Sirius went upstairs to help Harry, but met him halfway.  
  
" Is that all?" Sirius asked, looking at the small amount of clothes Harry had with him.  
  
" Err...yeah, I don't have much, most of my stuff I carry to school with me."  
  
" You mean everything you own fits in your trunk?"  
  
" Well, it is a very large trunk." Sirius thought for a moment.  
  
" Give me those." He said to Harry, taking the clothes from him.  
  
" These are much too big for you."   
  
' They're Dudley's old ones."   
  
" I see......" Sirius turned around and walked towards the kitchen, Harry right behind him. When they walked in, Vernon got up from the table and handed Sirius the papers.   
  
" Here you are then. He's all yours." he said wearing the same, nasty grin.   
  
" Thank you. You may keep these." Sirius threw the clothes high into the air, pulled out his wand and blew the clothes to bits that flew all over the kitchen. Petunia looked like she was about to faint.  
  
" My kitchen.........."  
  
" Lets go Harry." and he and Harry left Number Four.   
  
" We're going to go to a friend of mine's house and go to Diagon Alley from there."  
  
" Diagon Alley? Why?" asked Harry.  
  
" You need proper clothes to wear now that I've done away with your old ones."   
  
"Who's your friend?"  
  
" Miss Figg." Harry's jaw dropped.  
  
" You're joking?"  
  
" No, I'm serious."   
  
" She's a witch?"  
  
" Yes."  
  
" No Way!"  
  
" Yes Way." Harry's mind was spinning with questions. He wished he had a pensieve at the moment.   
  
" No...but...she cant.."  
  
" Oh, but she is." said Sirius, looking amused.   
  
" But she has all of those cats....."  
  
" So? Anyone can have cats. And that's part of her protection. Dark Wizards hate cats. Cats are the guardians of the under-world. They hate them."  
  
" But the smell....."   
  
" So her house smells, big deal! That doesn't mean she's not a witch." said Sirius.  
  
" Yeah, but if she had the power to make that smell go away, why hasn't she done it already?"  
  
" Maybe she likes it."  
  
Moments later they were on their way to Diagon Alley by floo powder after having a talk with Miss Figg and explaining the whole thing out to Harry. Hours later they were walking out of Madame Malkins, Harry carring a huge bag of four of five new pairs of robes. All varying in shades of blue and green. They then went to Sirius' house by floo powder from Gringotts.   
  
Sirius got there before Harry, and when Harry got there he fell completely out of the fireplace face first onto a hardwood floor.   
  
" Oomph..." He raised himself up enough to see Sirius standing in the middle of the room looking around as though he were drifting in space. Harry stood up and took a look around the room.  
  
He could see a sofa, tables, and a few more seats all arranged around the fireplace; although, all of them had sheets pulled over them and the sheets were covered in dust and cobwebs. Behind the furniture was an archway that led to the kitchen. Evrything in there was covered with sheets, dust, and cobwebs, too. A staircase was to his left and as he follwed it upward he saw that it led to a large landing that looked over the living room. He figured the bedrooms were somewhere behind the railing. To his right was the front door and many medium sized windows with heavy curtains. Harry noticed Sirius still going in cirlces on the spot looking around.   
  
" Been so long........" then he realized what he had been doing when he turned around to face Harry.  
  
" It's not as big as the Dursley's." he said.  
  
" No, it's so much better than the Dursley's. I'm going to love it here." Harry said, smiling. Sirius smiled back.   
  
" Well! I guess we should start by getting all this dust and dirt off of everything." he said, waving his wand around the room and the dust, dirt, and cobwebs vanished.   
  
  
~**¤**~  
  
In five hours they had everything set up and clean. An inviting fire was ablaze, and Harry sat on the sofa in front of it. He looked up to the mantlepiece where he saw pictures of Sirius, his father,his mother, and Professor Lupin. Sirius had told the people in the pictures what Wormtail had done to them in the future( for all of the pictures were before Wormtail had become secret keeper) and they had shunned Wormtail out of the pictures, hexing him if he came back. This Harry found very amusing. Sirius had found an old camera in one of the boxes and had taken a picture of he and Harry, which now had its own place on the mantlepiece. Sirius came into the room and sat in a chair near him. He sighed contentedley, then frowned.   
  
" I just realized that we haven't eaten in quite a while now..... I know what to do though." Sirius said. He walked over to the fireplace, got out his wand and muttered something Harry couldn't hear. Suddenly Professor Lupin's head popped up in the fire.   
  
" Oh, hello Sirius! What can I do for you?" he asked.   
  
" Well, you see, I haven't got any food in my home except for something that may have been food at one point but has grown hair and kind of glows when the light hits it right and its under the refrigerator." said Sirius. Lupin chuckled.   
  
"Ahhh, so you need food?"  
  
" Err.......yeah."  
  
" Okay, hold on."   
  
" Okay." Sirius yelled into the fire." Yeah, bring some sandwhich meat and cheese. And some cola.....a-and some chocolate cake or somethin...and-"  
  
" Ah shut up Sirius I'm coming....Stand back." Sirius moved out from in front of the fireplace, where the fire had grown green and Professor Lupin walked out of it into the room carrying a tray covered in different foods. Sirius stared at the food, much like a dog waiting for table scraps. Lupin sat the tray on the coffee table in front of Harry and looked around like Sirius had when he had first walked in.   
  
" It looks almost exactly like it did fifteen years ago. " he said. Then he came back to his senses.   
  
" So! You two are hungry I see?"   
  
" Yeah." said Harry and Sirius.   
  
Two hours later they had all eaten the whole tray of food and Harry had listened to many stories of when Sirius and Remus ( as Lupin had told Harry to call him when they weren't at school) were at school. He enjoyed finding out what his father and mother were like.   
After Remus went back to his house Sirius said he thought it was time for them to go to bed. It was, after all, three in the morning.   
  
~**¤**~  
  
  
Tap tap tap.   
  
" Go 'way Hedwig." Harry said grogilly. He was laying in his bed and trying to go back to sleep. The room was cold but his blankets were warm. For the first time in his life he had a good home-aside from Hogwarts- and he had a full sized bed at that home other than a smaller than average twin bed, even though he was lying on his stomach and his left arm was hanging off the side of the bed. He could feel himself slowly sliding off, but he was too asleep to care.   
  
Tap..tap.....BANG!   
  
Harry, startled, fell off bed and landed on the floor with a loud thud. What on earth did that? He looked out the window...and laughed.   
  
Sirius had been knocking on the window to get his attention. Since Harry was two stories up, it was obvious that Sirius was on a broom. He was also wearing thick robes and a heavy cloak considering that it had been snowing. Sirius motioned for Harry to come outside before leaning foward and zooming out of sight. Harry stood up from the floor quickly and ran over to his chest of drawers and pulled out a deep purple, almost black set of robes encrusted with moons at the hem and then went to the closet and grabbed the new cloak he got yesterday (emerald green with silver owl fastenings). He then ran dawnstairs and out the door.   
Sirius came flying around from the back of the house, wearing a huge grin. He came to a smooth landing next to Harry.  
  
" Look! I was looking around in the attic this morning and found this." he brandished the broom out to Harry." My old Moonspinner! I haven't ridden it in forever but it feels like just yesterday I was a beater for Gryffindor!" Harry laughed. Sirius looked like it was his birthday. Then he seemed to have remembered something.   
  
" What is it?" Harry asked.   
  
" We've got to go to Gringotts."Sirius said, looking like his birthday had come twice in one day. " I cant believe I forgot to get it!"  
  
" Why? We were there just yesterday."  
  
" I forgot something. Come on lets go!" he called to Harry as he ran into the house.   
  
Five minutes later they were walking out of a fireplace in the Leaky Cauldron and on their way to Gringotts. Harry was still confused about what was goin on as Sirius walked up to a free goblin.  
  
" Storage space please. Vault 263." Sirius showed the goblin the key and they walked through a door across the room.   
Harry was surprised. Storage space? And they hadn't walked onto one of the cart tracks that Harry had always seen when he went to Gringotts. They were in a small space with a marble path that led down a hill and underground, though there was no dirt and no cart. They walked for approximately seven minutes and had gone past many large doors in the well lit corridor when they reached a door that had the golden numbers 263 wriiten on it. Sirius walked up to it, unlocked it, and walked in. Harry couldn't see inside, but heard a low rumbling sound after a few moments like an engine to a car. He and the goblin lept back as Sirius drove a shiny motorcycle out of the storage room.   
  
" Needs to be used a bit. After all, It hasnt been used in fifteen years." said Sirius." Come now, Harry. Let's go home. " Harry jumped onto the back of the motorcycle and held on for dear life as Sirius sped off in the opposite direction of which they came.   
  
" Where are we going?!?" Harry yelled.  
  
" To the portal!" Sirius yelled back.   
  
" What?!?" Harry yelled just as they turned a corner. In fornt of them Harry saw a huge pearl color wall. But the wall was rippling like water.   
  
" Sirius, look out!"   
  
" Hogsmeade!" Sirius yelled as they went through the wall. Harry closed his eyes waiting for the worst but it never came. When he opened them again they were riding through Hogsmeade.   
  
" Whoa!" said Harry, watching the people zoom by.   
  
" Now hang on!" Sirius said as they left the village and entered a backroad. Harry did as he was told and watched in astonishment as they rose off the ground. His memory did a backtrack. Something felt very familiar. The excited feeling left him as he tried his best to remeber what it was that was pushing its way back to the front of his brain.   
  
In no time they were making a landing in their front yard. Harry climbed off before Sirius and stood there looking at the ground. Sirius climbed off and looked at him strangely.  
  
" Something wrong Harry?" he asked.  
  
" No, no........I just.... riding that motorcycle jarred something in my memory."  
  
" Well I should think it would. Hagrid rode this same motorcycle to carry you to the Dursley's the night......the night it all happened." said Sirius. Harry looked up at him.   
  
" Hagrid was there?" Harry asked. He had never thought about how he ended up at the Dursley's. It never seemed important.   
  
" Oh yes, and Professor McGonagall, and Professor Dumbledore."  
  
" All of them were there?" said Harry. He hadn't expected this.   
  
" Well......yeah." As they walked back into the house Harry realized that all this time he thought that the first time he met the Professors was in his first year, but in reality, he had basically known them his whole life.   
  
  
~**¤**~  
  
  
"Wow! A flying motorcycle!" said Ron. He, Harry, and Hermione were on their way to breakfast. They had two more days to go before classes started again, and Harry was now trying to fill them in on everything that happened while he was at Sirius' house.   
  
" Sounds like you had a good time." said Hermione.   
  
They sat down to eat, and were having a good time talking about things, when owls came fluttering into the Hall. One dropped a newspaper into Hermione's lap and flew off. She lifted it up and read the front page.   
  
" They've written a story about the whole thing." she said.  
  
" 'Bout what?" asked George. She looked at Harry, who gave her an encouraging nod, and handed the paper to the twins and Ginny, who all leaned over it reading. They all looked up at Harry with expressions of disbelief.  
  
" Keep reading." he told them.   
  
" Harry........" Ron said, looking around at the rest of the Hall. Students who had stayed over the hollidays were reading papers too, including Malfoy, and were staring at Harry as if he was going to do the same thing to them as Sirius was accused to doing to those other people. Harry ignored them. In a few minutes time the twins and Ginny were done reading and sat and stared at Harry, same as other students were doing.   
  
" Oh Harry......we had no idea.....Peter Pettigrew!" said Ginny.   
  
" Yeah..." said Harry.   
  
" How long have you known about all this?" asked Fred.  
  
" Well, me, Ron, and Hermione have all known about it since our third year. A couple of days ago, when I left, it was because Dumbledore had told me that Sirius had been cleared and I went to spend some time with him." said Harry.  
  
" All three of you knew! And you didn't tell us!" exclaimed George.  
  
" Well, honestly George, would you not have thought they were all mental for thinking that Sirius was innocent?"said Ginny.  
  
" Good point." he said, looking thoughtful.  
  
" Wait! This means......okay, he's your god-father?" asked Fred.  
  
" Yeah."  
  
" Then you don't have to live with those muggles any more!" said Fred, looking as if he had cracked the code to the universe.  
  
" Yeah, that's what I've been doing for the past two days-moving into his house."  
  
" Ahhh, but it's not only his house now, it's yours also." said Ron. After talking about the whole Sirius thing for a while they all exited the Hall and went to walk along the grounds for a while.  
  
" So Potter has gotten involved with yet another Dark Wizard. Hardly suits your image." said a bored voice behind them as they walked down the steps leading to the grounds. They all turned around to face him and his body guards.  
  
" He's not a dark wizard."   
  
" Oh no, of course not! What was I thinking? He only killed a bunch of muggles-including your parents! Not that that was a waste or anything-"  
Harry and Ron both lunged at Malfoy while Fred and George shot binding curses at Crabbe and Goyle. Hermione and Ginny stood holding their wands out.   
Ron frantically tried to make sure that Malfoy wasn't able to get to his wand while Harry punched Malfoy as hard as he could in the stomach.   
  
"DON'T EVER SPEAK OF MY PARENTS THAT WAY AGAIN!" growled Harry. Malfoy simply glared at him, clutching his stomach. Harry turned around and walked off toward Hagrid's cabin, with the rest following him.   
  
  
~**¤**~  
  
  
  
  
Later that night, Harry lie awake in his four poster wondering why Malfoy didn't even try to throw a punch at him. Harry had gotten away without a scratch.   
He couldn't sleep for some reason so he decided to take a walk. He didn't want to wake Ron, who was snoring from behind his curtains, so he quietly got up and went over to his trunk and opened the lid. Worry spread through him. His invisability cloak was gone. He threw everything out of his trunk and still no cloak. He was beggining to panic.   
And hour later ,after tearing up the whole dormitory, he still couldn't find it. Then he knew who would be able to find out who took it. Hermione of course.   
He went into the common room and up the stairs that led to the girls dormitories, and opened the door. A strong sweet scent hit him as he opened the door. He rolled his eyes. Girls. He knew immediately which bed was Hermione's. The one with a stack of books on the bedside table and her bag on her trunk at the foot of the bed. He walked over to the bed and pulled back the curtains. Hermione was curled up with the blanket pulled all the way up to her chin. He gently shook her, hoping that she wouldn't kick him like Ginny did. But she merely rolled over. He shook and shook and shook, but she was obviously a very heavy sleeper. He straightened himself back up. Putting a hand on his hip and scratching the side of his head with the other, he tried to figure out how he was going to do this. Then he heard a voice from the other side of the room.   
  
" Mmm........who's there? Hermione is that you? Why are you wearing boy's clo-boys?!?" said Ginny. Harry sprinted over to her bed as fast as he could.  
  
" Sssshhhhh!!! It's me!" he whispered.   
  
" Harry?.....Harry! What on earth are you doing in here?! Do you know how much trouble we're going to get into-"  
  
" Shhhh! We're going to be heard! Now, I need your help. Someone got my invisability cloak out of my trunk. Do you know any spells or charms or whatever to find out who might have gotten it?"  
  
" Mmmmm.......yeah, yes I do, hang on.Wait......Invisability cloak?!"   
  
" I'll explain in the common room, just hurry up and lets get out of here!"   
  
" Okay, okay...." she grabbed her wand and climbed out of bed, following him out of the room.   
  
" Now, where on earth did you get an invisability cloak?" Ginny asked as they reached the bottom of the stairs.   
  
" It was my fathers. Dumbledore gave it to me in my first year." he explained to her.  
  
" And why are you up so late at night anyway?" she asked.  
  
" I couldn't sleep, and I wanted to take a walk and for that I needed the invisablility cloak. "   
  
" Well......let's go have a look." she said. Harry led her into his dormitory and they tip-toed quietly over to his opened trunk.   
  
" Now what are you planning on doing?" he whispered to her.   
  
" Well......I think I know a charm to find out who's fingerprints are on it." she whispered back.   
  
" Okay......yeah, yeah that's good." she pointed her wand at the lid, whispered a few words, and suddenly there were names all over the lid to his trunk.  
  
" Read quickly, it will wear off in a few minutes." she said. Most of the writing on it said 'Harry Potter'. In a few spaces it said 'Ron Weasley' and to his surprise in one spot it said 'Neville Longbottom'.   
  
" Probably fell on it." he said. Then he saw it. The two words that made anger spread through his vains like wildfire. Ginny gasped. They stared at each other.  
  
" Draco Malfoy?"   
  
  
  
  



End file.
